Pages

Saint Martin's Bags - Goodies for the Children

Il-Borża ta' San Martin, or St. Martin's Bags, are a festive tradition in Malta on the feast of St. Martin of Tours. Children are given these bags full of treats associated with the feast. The cloth bags have drawstrings at the top and are filled with fruits of the harvest.

Common contents of the bags include:~almonds~walnuts~hazelnuts~chestnuts~oranges~tangerines~figs~apples~pomegranates

It might also contain St. Martin's bread (Weckmanner in Germany). We just used what we had on hand - peanuts, cashews, and dried fruit. The bags are easy to make. This one is a light muslin, decorated with a goose - symbol associated with St. Martin.

A poem about the bag of treats to recite:Ġewż, Lewż, Qastan, TinKemm inħobbu lil San Martin.

Walnuts, Almonds, Chestnuts, FigsI very much love Saint Martin.

At our St. Martin feast day celebration with our local support group today, a friend of mine made "beggar bags" for all the kids. They were crumpled, brown paper bags signifying simplicity and poverty. The picture on the bag shows St. Martin with the beggar. They contained nuts, fruit and a cookie.

Great post! I’m looking to make some changes in my own eating habits, so I appreciate your insight a lot! Thank you. I recently stumbled upon this blog like I did yours and I thought your readers may appreciate it: http://burisonthecouch.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/food-for-thought/

I’ve started to look for their stuff more regularly and I think I’m going to add your blog to my list as well. Thanks for the post!

This is fantastic and I totally want to do this for my next St. Martin's Day (which I celebrate annually with a goose feast!)—can you tell us the dimensions of this little bag (the cloth one)? It looks like it's about 9-10 pecans tall and about 6 pecans wide. Is that correct?

We give thee thanks, almighty God, for all your benefits, who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

May the Lord grant us His peace. And life everlasting. Amen.

Alternate conclusion:And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

General Disclaimer

This blog may contain links to third party blogs/websites. Our blog is in no way responsible for the contents of any linked blog/websites or any links contained in such blog/website. Links are provided for convenience and information and do not imply endorsement of the linked site.